The Super Simple Ways I’m Staying Healthy This Year

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Clorox Company. All opinions are 100% mine.

Hi, my name is Julie and I over-complicate things. Can you relate? Anytime I decide to make a change in my life I feel the need to go full throttle, go big or go home, leave nothing on the table baby kind of crazy. Which for my personality, is the easiest way to set me up for failure. Make an over complicated plan + put said over complicated plan into an over-complicated schedule = complete and utter failure.

For example, what I eat has always been an issue for me. I love food. But you see, food to me isn’t just something I have to eat in order to nourish my body so I don’t pass out. Food to me is an experience. It’s the same with wine. If you sit me down at a table with a bottle of wine, a bowl of olive oil and a loaf of bread; we’re going to be sitting there for awhile and we’re going to have a nice long conversation about whatever pops into my head. My kids call that ‘mom trying to be Italian.’

I’ve attempted some difficult eating plans (to lose weight and just to try to make me feel better) several times and I’ve talked about starting them a thousand times. I’ve failed at them every.single.time. Why? Because they were complicated, they didn’t fit in well with my lifestyle and let’s be honest – I’m not great at self-control.

I ended 2016 not feeling well at all. I’m struggling with a few health issues, as well as some personal ones, and overall I just haven’t felt 100%. So I’ve made a plan and some changes. But instead of making them complicated, they’re all super simple habits I can stick to.

Here’s my plan…

The Super Simple Ways I’m Staying Healthy This Year

Eat a crapton of veggies

One of my favorite bloggers, Leo Babauta from Zen Habits, wrote a post called The Simple Health Plan. The first step in that plan is to eat a lot (or crapton to be exact) of vegetables. He shares that it’s not that complicated to get healthy and that we need to stop making it so complicated. All those fad diets and exercise programs we pay a lot of money for? Set them aside and just try eating a lot of vegetables and see what happens. See how you feel. Get down to the simple fundamentals and stop making everything so dang hard.

So, today at the grocery store (just kidding, I order my groceries online; one thing I learned to let go of, but that’s for another post) I bought…you guessed it – a crapton of vegetables. This I can do. Especially since my boys are vegetarians, am I right? Yes, they’re excited about this new ‘adventure’ of mine. My husband Todd is joining in too. We shall eat all the vegetables together!

Get up and walk

For years, I’ve had this dream of becoming a runner. I want to be one of those women who loves running so much, they can’t imagine their day ending without going on a run first. Um, that hasn’t happened yet my friends. I even have the cutest running clothes and three pairs of fabulous running shoes in all different colors. But you see, I put on those great clothes and those fabulous running shoes and I go out for a run with my 12-year-old son and I.can’t.breathe. My shins start screaming at me and I swear if he says ‘can you go any faster?‘ I’m going to pick up that rock right there and chunk it at him. Gently.

Yeah, I don’t like running yet. So what’s happened is I’ve gotten discouraged and have stopped doing any form of activity whatsoever. Not good.

So, I’m walking. I’m walking on the treadmill. I’m walking to the mailbox instead of driving. I’m just walking.

Dealing with sickness better before, during and after

We’ve already been hit with a nasty cold this year and boy it was brutal. Thankfully only a few of us came down with it, but we’re doing everything we can to make sure we deal with sicknesses better this year. My husband went on a Clorox wipe spree and wiped down surfaces all over the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom. I tackled the kids’ bathroom, light switches, and doorknobs.

I’m also trying to get better at wiping down the kitchen counters, dining room table and frequently used doorknobs and light switches every day in order to kill any viruses and bacteria before we get sick. I haven’t been the best at preventative measures in the past, but I want to change that.

(Side note: Here’s a Cartwheel coupon if you want to try these Clorox Scentiva wipes.)

On the flip side, when I do get sick, allowing myself to rest and just accept the fact that getting sick is part of life, is probably one of the healthiest things I can do for my body.

Giving back

Health isn’t just about the food we put in our bodies, or the exercise we do or preventative measures to keep ourselves from getting sick. It’s also about feeding our soul and that’s something I’ve been severely lacking in over the past year and I know it. I just wasn’t sure where I wanted to give my time.

My husband was feeling it too and so we’ve committed to volunteering a few times a month together. We think we’ve found the perfect organization for both of us and I’m looking forward to stepping outside of myself and giving back to our community.

We’ve both been involved in community outreach our entire lives, but this time it feels a little different. This time we know we’re giving back with no ulterior motive, with nothing to ask for in return, but just because we care. And that feels amazing.

Have you felt the need to get healthy too? I hope one or two of these super simple ways I’m focusing on were helpful to you in some way. It feels good to have a plan, but a plan that is full of simplicity. A plan I can actually follow and see results with.

Now it’s time for me to go get my crapton of vegetables ready to eat. 🙂